OLYMPIA — The group fighting to uphold the state’s gay marriage law has reserved $5 million in television time, and statewide ads are expected to start running next month.
Zach Silk, a spokesman for Washington United for Marriage, said Monday that the group has reserved TV time “sometime after Labor Day,” though he wouldn’t specify an exact start date or how long the ad buy was for.
“We’ve always believed that we had to have a direct conversation with voters about the issue and this is the beginning of that dialogue,” Silk said. “We’re excited to begin this next phase of the campaign.”
Referendum 74 asks voters to either approve or reject the law passed earlier this year that allows same-sex marriage in the state. That law is on hold pending the November vote.
Preserve Marriage Washington, which pushed to get the referendum on the ballot, has raised more than $471,000 in opposition to the law. Washington United for Marriage has raised more than $6 million.
Christopher Plante, the deputy campaign manager for Preserve Marriage, said that they are in the process of working on reserving television advertising time, but said he didn’t yet have details on it.
“We’re convinced that if we have enough money to get our message out, we will be victorious,” he said.
Plante, who is on loan to the campaign from the Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for Marriage, said that they are projecting they will raise about $4 million. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
Maryland legalized gay marriage this year as well.
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